Ministry of Rural Development

About MRD

Organization Chart of DRHC

Role and Duties of DRHC

To prepare short/medium/long-term plans for primary health care in community;
To provide training in skills and knowledge of primary health care and sanitation to MRD staff and the village volunteer health workers;
To give health education and advice to the community about nutrition, women and children's health support, mental health care and disease prevention; and
To actively improve rural environmental sanitation by promoting the construction of public and familial sanitation latrines and educating villagers to keep their house compounds clean. The importance of only drinking water known to be clean must be constantly emphasized to families.

Key Senior Officials of DRHC

Name	Title	E-Mail	Telephone
Mr. Chea Samnang	Director	cheasamnang@online.com.kh	012 873 671
Mrs. Teng Yuky	Deputy Director		012 936 358
Mr. Chreay Pom	Deputy Director		012 897 731
Mr. Yan Vanyong	Deputy Director
Mr. Ev Sambath	Deputy Director
Mr. Khuoch Linny	Deputy Director

Major Responsibilities of DRHC

Introduction

In accordance with the RGC's Sub-degree No. 78 ANK/BK dated 1 December 1997 on the organization and functioning of the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD), the Department of Rural Health Care is one of the technical departments, which has a mission to participate in improving the human health and well-being of community people in rural areas of Cambodia.

Vision

To improve community-based health activities, both physical and mental health, in the context of complementary approach of integrated community development in line with the policy and strategy of Ministry of Rural Development.

Mission Statement

In the context of integrated community development approach, the Department of Rural Health Care (DRHC) has focused on improving and promoting healthy community in the concept of preventive is better than curative, including physical and mental health, in close collaboration and coordination with other departments and Provincial Departments of Rural Development of MRD, line ministries, UNs, IOs, INGOs and LNGOs agencies, through a full and active participation of community people in planning development, project management, implementation activities, monitoring and evaluation of the projects.

DRHC's key missions are focusing as below:

To improve the communication and fill out the gap between health center staff and local community. Two ways communication is very important system in building the gap, improving and strengthening the collaboration and coordination.
To build capacity of local people on how to better understand a good hygiene practices in the family, as well as other basic health care activities like sanitary education, nutritional education, safe motherhood education (including birth spacing, pre and post-natal care), water use education, HIV/AIDS education and EPI education.
To improve the child health activities, which mainly focus to the poor households and vulnerable family in the community.
To promote women’s participation in community health network, namely Village Health Volunteer.
To improve the coordination and collaboration with all external support agencies and concerned government agencies on the field of community-based health activities, in line with the National Policy of Primary Health Care and Integrated Community Development of Ministry of Rural Development’s policy and strategy.

Specific Objectives

To promote rural sanitation environment, such as household latrines, community and/or household compound sanitation.
To increase the awareness and put into practices a good hygiene and behavior change, which stand on the concept of safe drinking, safe living and safe eating.
To promote the collaboration and coordination with line government institutions, UN agencies, IOs, I/LNGOs, other civil associations and private sectors for putting in place the policy and strategies on Rural Water Supply and Sanitation sector.
To promote community self-reliance, ownership and community solidarity on improving health situation in their own community through contributions and full participations in planning, implementation, management, monitoring and evaluation of the project activities.

Strategy

Establish the community health network, namely Village Health Volunteers (VHVs).
Building capacity of Village Health Volunteers on basic health care knowledge.
Strengthening the capacity of central and provincial staff of Rural Health Care on the field of Community-based health Promotion.
Establish an effective and efficient mechanism on coordination and cooperation with different players, including government agencies, UNs, IOs, I/LNGOs and Private Sector.
Supporting VHV performance, including legal frameworks, Policy and Guideline and technical support, such as training, follow up and monitoring activities.
Implement the MRD’s policy on complementary approach of integration community development project.
Promote rural sanitation activity by supporting household latrines, rural public sanitation facilities and community environmental sanitation, in line with the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Policy and Strategy.
Promote best practices of corporal hygiene and safe water use for drinking.
Promote HIV/AIDS awareness on prevention, care and support in local community.
Promote various health education activities in rural community, such as Birth Spacing, Malaria, Primary Mental Health Care, Micro-nutrient, Mental Health, etc.

Marjor Activities

In accordance with the vision and mission statement of MRD, the Department of Rural Health Care has to implement their activities at the community/village-based and households. Those activities have to be response to the integrated community development approach and decentralization system. A number of main activities has been done as below:

Community-based HIV/AIDS awareness on prevention, care and support PLWHA (People Living With HIV/AIDS).
Water Use and Hygiene Education (WUHE).
Rural Sanitation, including latrine construction, in both household and public places and cleaning house compounds.
Primary Mental Health, both adults and children.
Primary Health Care activities.
Eye care activities.
And community training and refresher training to VHVs.

Community-based HIV/AIDS awareness raising

Community involvement in the project of HIV/AIDS awareness raising on prevention and care is one of the key strategies of Notional AIDS Authority (NAA) to reduce HIV/AIDS infections in Cambodia. The DRHC has implemented this project in close collaboration with IOs/NGOs, line-ministries and provincial departments, in particular the Commune Councils, VDCs, and VHVs (Village Health Volunteers).

In order to meet the objectives of reducing HIV/AIDS infections and promoting family-based prevention and care program, the capacity building to all community people, key community people by providing them the correct and clear messages and information are very important.

Celebration of World AIDS Day

Besides the activities of community-based training on HIV/AIDS awareness raising, the DRHC has actively involved for organizing the celebration World AIDS Day 1 December every year. This celebration was organized in the school or pagoda at the community and we invited students, teachers, elderly people, youths, women and men to participate with this event. A main objective of organizing the celebration World AIDS Day

1 December at community is to promote HIV/AIDS awareness in amount of youths, students and all people in rural community to participate actively in fighting HIV/AIDS in Cambodia.

Water Use and Hygiene Education

Water Use and Hygiene Education Program is very important to make sure the community people use clean water for drinking and they understand well how to prevent water borne diseases. Health educators use the participatory method in conducting WUHE in community, so called PHAST. Water Use and Hygiene Education is very essential in Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program.

If we only supply clean water and we don't pay attention to educate people on hygiene and sanitary education, we will not meet our intention that people can access water and sanitation will live in good health and environment.

Rural Sanitation Program

The DRHC has been collaborating with UNICEF since 1993 to implement household latrine construction project. The implementation of household latrine project is in line with water supply activities to increase an access of using clean drinking water and sanitary facilities in rural areas. The community people who receive some material for latrine construction have to contribute small amount of cash and labor to construct their latrine. Sanitation education is also provided to community people about how to construct water seal latrine and the advantages and disadvantages of using latrine to improve health condition in the family.
Based on the CMDG's target, 32 % of rural people can be accessed latrine in 2015 (a current coverage is 9%).
So in order to reach this target, the issues of financial project implementation, collaboration, and private

sector involvement and as well as community participation have to be strengthened and solved.

Birth Spacing Education

Community-based Birth spacing program is one of Community Health Development activities of DRHC. This program is focusing to educate women of childbearing age (15 - 45 years old) to understand how to keep life healthy, both mother and child, and finally the women have more time to involve and participate with the family in income generation activities for better life of family. Messages and relevant information related birth

spacing have to be clear in education activity to the women and their family, including men. In collaboration with PDRD staff, the birth spacing education has been provided to the community and local resource persons such as VDCs and VHVs are also involved as community health network in providing the education to the women in community and advice them for consultation with health center staff. The out-reach activities of health center is also provided technical support to VHVs/VDCs in the activity of birth spacing education.

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